Untitled but good

Prologue

        It was a dark, quiet night. The half moon's soft glow was hidden behind the darkened clouds, and the wind was silent, the only sign of it being the barely noticeable quiet rustle of dark leaves.
        On this particular, somewhat eerie night, Jamie Tam paced in her dark living room. A dim-lit light illuminated her darkened eyes and mouth set into a thin, almost angry line. She paced some more, her steps becoming quicker and almost frantic. Yes, she was worried. Maybe scared, though she would never admit it.
        She came to an abrupt stop, willing herself to calm down. Jamie ran a hand through her short, black bleached hair, ruffling it. She flopped down into a dusty armchair that hadn't been used in a while, taking deep breaths. Bad idea. Dust sprang into the air, making her eyes get all itchy and her nose tickle. Annoyance and anger flashed through her, and she stood up, furiously rubbing her already reddened eyes. Jamie didn't like this. Why did it have to be this way? She felt angry, and really needed to punch something, or kick something, or somehow get her energy out before she exploded.
        Right on cue, there was a knock on the door. Three, in fact. Three short, sharp raps and a faint rustle of clothing. In the blink of an eye, Jamie was standing before the door, not having to look through the peephole to know who was there. She opened it in one strong swing, her eyes doing a brief once over of the short person in front of her.
        Exactly who Jamie had expected, who she knew would come. Her expectations had been confirmed, yet this was not a good thing. It was bad. So bad that this person was here in the first place, that this person had come all the way over here just to see her. This person was to deliver bad news that Jamie already knew half of. And then... they were going to have to do something about it. What? Jamie didn't know. She stiffened, and a sudden hint of despair and dread jolted through her, telling her to shove this person away and go back to life as it was before, forgetting about this unfortunate disruption. But then that feeling passed, and Jamie was left feeling weary and tired. There was a slight feeling of responsibility left. Jamie knew what had to be done. She stepped aside, letting the person enter, then shut the door in a loud slam and stalked after.
        "Ave." Jamie's voice was cold and hard, like the jagged edges of sharp, broken glass, scraping through the silence. Yet it was not her voice that was disturbing. It was the word she had said, a word that had not been said aloud for a long time... more than a word, in fact. A name.
       The figure, a girl of the appearance of about maybe twenty, looked up and met Jamie's eyes with her own light brown ones. Ave. She had hair tied back, freckles, glasses, and a small stature. "James, it's Leslie, just call me Leslie, please. I don't... we can get to that later."
        Jamie said nothing, just crossed her arms and leaned on the door frame. Ave... Leslie sighed deeply and fidgeted her hands. She looked just as tired as Jamie felt. "So... how's it been? Still doing what you're doing?" Leslie sat down on the dusty sofa, leaned forward, and clasped her hands together, a small hint of nervousness hidden underneath her well-worn mask. However fooling that mask was, Jamie saw that nervousness, which made her even more nervous.
        She snorted. "Please. You don't need to make small talk with me, just get to what you came here to say." She cautiously moved to an armchair, ignoring her tickling nose. "I want to know why you're really here."
        Leslie seemed to frown, but Jamie noticed her knuckles turn whiter than they already were. "No, I'm genuinely curious. What've you been up to these days? I haven't seen you in... what, a decade? Are you still a vigilante?" Jamie tried to hide her flinch at the word, that word that she hated, that she heard people curse walking by on the sidewalk. Jamie wanted to almost cower in shame and loneliness when she heard that word. Leslie tilted her head, seeming even more interested now.
        Jamie cleared her throat, looking away, her fierceness suddenly broken. "I'm still... doing it. Are you?" A handful of years ago, maybe a century, Leslie and Jamie had decided to be... vigilantes, they called it. Superheroes, because what was a little extra help in stopping crime or helping citizens? They had all this power, so why not use it for something useful? So they did. They both went to different towns or cities to help them out, and every few years, they would move around and help another place. The job wasn't always easy, at least not for Jamie. Not everyone liked the idea of an unknown, unauthorized person leaping around on rooftops with powerful, unusual abilities. She felt always felt alone, with Leslie on the other side of the planet and having a great time. She didn't have it the same way Jamie did.
        "I'm still doing it too." Leslie smiled politely. "So, what else? You made any friends? Got close to anyone? Do anything fun?" 
        Jamie shook her head, almost angrily. Stop asking questions, Ave. No to all of those. How could she afford to get close to anyone, vigilante or not? With her lifespan being so long and all the others' being so short, she would just end up mourning them before she knew it, breaking her even more. And they needed her, the people did, to protect them. She couldn't just leave, or take a break, or go on vacation. And it was just getting worse.
        "What about you?" Jamie interjected, getting tired of the small talk and wanting to get it over with. "What have you been up to these days? Got any friends, a job, anyone you're close to? What about you?" She crossed her arms.
        Leslie's eyebrows shot up. "Well, then, okay." Her eyes met Jamie's. "I've made some friends, gotten a job, and, yes, gotten close to someone." She shrugged her shoulders. "There."
        Jamie blinked, a sense of shock slowly creeping up on her. She'd made friends. Why was Jamie so surprised by this? Was Leslie telling the truth? She had always had it easier than Jamie, but certainly not this much... how? How did Leslie have it all, while Jamie was still where she had started, with nothing except for an ungrateful city to look after? Millions of thoughts raced around in Jamie's head at once, making her dizzy. It wasn't fair, and it had never been. She felt crushed, sad. Was this how it was always going to be, feeling depressed and just so... alone?
        Leslie scratched the back of her neck, looking guilty now as she saw Jamie's expression. "Sorry, James. I didn't... I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I..."
        "It's fine." Jamie didn't know why she said it, because it wasn't fine. It would probably never be fine. But maybe she'd said it because Leslie wasn't trying to cause harm, she was just saying something normal, really, that Jamie had taken the wrong way. It wasn't her fault, she was just trying to start a conversation.
        "Okay, then," Leslie offered a wry, sad smile. "You're right, enough with the small talk." she took a deep breath. "I think you know why I'm here."
        Uh oh. Here it came. Jamie managed a nod, and her breath stilled a bit. She sat down in the armchair, her itching nose simply background noise now as she focused on what really mattered. Leslie was going to confirm the worst--Jamie's horrifying suspicions. A wave of suppressed dread passed through her. Focus, she thought sharply to herself, leaning in closer.
        "Okay. Listen." Leslie shifted her posture, looking now more nervous. "I think you know that the Earth is, well, changing. And... not in the way of climate change and stuff. In a different way, one far worse." Leslie held Jamie's gaze before breaking away and looking down. Nervous Leslie was not good news. "I can't describe it, but I've been around and seen things that are unimaginable and scary, lately. Earth is falling apart, James. And..." she hesitated, her breath hitching. "We might be the reason."
        Jamie could only nod along, waiting for the rest.
        "Too many rules, James. Too many rules have been broken. We've, well, destroyed everything." She spoke sadly. "We've broken the rules, and now everything we've built is crumbling beneath us. Because of us. It's like this world is breaking apart, slowly, and then it'll be gone, and we'll be what's left, alone, by ourselves. That can't happen."
        Jamie sensed that the worst hadn't even been said yet. Yes, she had seen the signs, seen the strange, weird things that'd confused her. But how was this happening? Why was it happening? "By 'we', you mean... all nineteen of us? It's us who's destroying everything?"
         Leslie closed her eyes, as if in pain. Never a good sign. "There's a twentieth."
        Jamie froze, and the ground beneath her seemed to tilt. "What?"
        "There's someone out there, James. Someone's wrecking everything, single handedly destroying us. We have to stop this person, Jamie. Stop them before it's too late."
        Jamie was struggling to wrap her head around the whole thing. She hadn't expected this, hadn't seen it coming"What? How can there be a twentieth?" It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense. It wasn't possible.
        "It's true."
        Jamie frowned, confused. "How do you know? You seen the person?" Jamie didn't believe it. There were only nineteen. She was the nineteenth. How could there be a twentieth?
        "I can tell, believe me. I've seen the signs."
        "What signs? Stop being so mysterious. Just tell me how you know." Jamie was slowly losing her composure.
        "Okay, James, it's complicated, but believe me, it's the truth." She took a shuddering breath. "You know the rest, right? We have to save our Earth, or... bad stuff will happen, let's leave it at that." Leslie flexed her thin fingers. "We have to do something about it. We have power, a tool, a weapon we can use. We need to find a solution, soon, or things will end unpleasantly."
        "Have you told anyone else?"
        Leslie shook her head. "You're the first one I came to, James, but I'm sure everyone else can tell that something is very, very wrong." 
        Jamie stood up, thinking. "We have to do something. But what should we do? How can we help? We need a plan." She snapped her fingers. "Should we get everyone back together? I'm sure we could all figure something out."
        "I don't know, James." Leslie rubbed her eyes, looking tired and burnt through. "I've thought about it, but I'm... I'm not sure everyone will be willing to help, or if everyone will even want to. We haven't seen them in ages. Who knows how much they've changed, if they're good anymore, if they even care anymore."
        "I think it's worth a try." Jamie hadn't seen any of them in a while, either. She wondered what had happened to them, or what they were doing now.
        "I think I know some of them who are still good and sane," Leslie said seriously. "But I had a different idea." She swept her hands across the coffee table in front of them, scattering the dust. "You know Anov?"
        Jamie snorted. "Ed De Cavox? I can't stand the guy. Who does he think he is?" Jamie scoffed. "I never liked him, anyway."
        Leslie let a smile escape. "Yeah, he's pretty unbelievable, with his name and president drama stuff. I haven't talked to him since he first got the job and I, well, I confronted him. That didn't end well." she chuckled at the memory. "He's an abuse of power, but not a threat."
        "Yeah, well, what about him?"
        Leslie's smile disappeared. "He had a kid."
        Jamie sighed, not surprised anymore. "We're not supposed to have children."
        "Everyone broke the rules, James. He had a child. A kid. Twenty years old, I think."
        "Does the kid know that Edde, is, well, Anov?"
        Leslie shook her head once. "No, he's clueless about everything, as far as I could tell."
        "You met this kid?"
        Leslie winced. "I befriended him, that's all. It was an accident, I swear! I met him one day and I could just tell that he wasn't ordinary."
        "How could you tell?"
        "I could sense it... unused power wafting off of him. If any of the others met him, or you did, you'd be able to tell, too. It was obvious. But the kid just hides around with his friend all day, so he's totally obscured. It was just pure coincidence that I found him."
        It sounded like Leslie was telling the truth. "I didn't know Edde had a kid," Jamie muttered.
        "He's not the only one."
        "Oh, great, who else? Did no one obey the rules except for me? Leslie, please don't tell me you've had a child, too."
        Leslie looked taken aback. "Of course not, James, are you serious?" She raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "It was Marcus."
        "Who's Marcus?"
        "Polo. He's had multiple kids, actually. He never went by the rules."
        Ohh. Him. "Do his kids know they're the son of Polo?"
        "His kids know they're the son of an alcoholic. Marcus isn't much of a caring father."
        "Why'd he even have kids?"
        "I don't know, though I heard he's not functioning very well these days. Max's taking care of him."
        "Who's Max?"
        "Sira. She, uh, takes care of him at that bar they hang out in."
        Sira. That silly girl. Jamie remembered her very well. "She got kids?"
        "Not as far as I can tell. But the others do."
        "Which others?"
        "Cela, Robbie, Catrada--I've seen their children recently, they're not--"
        Jamie averted her eyes to Leslie. "Jeez, Leslie, what've you been up to these days? You're spying on children now?"
        Leslie didn't look the slightest bit intimidated or guilty. "I was looking for a solution, and I came to... to this."
        "What?"
        "This!" Leslie kept talking, louder and louder. "Instead of going around and trying to dig up every single nineteen of us, we can use their kids! We can train them and do whatever we need to do to prepare them for the battle ahead! It's easier that way."
        Jamie made a face. "I don't see it. How?"
        "We train them! We prepare them, we teach them how to use their power."
        Jamie was doubtful. "I don't see how training kids saves us the trouble or makes it easier."
        Leslie almost scoffed. "Okay, look, I know it's complicated, James, but listen. The kids might be more powerful than their parents. Kids aren't half crazy from all the time they've been alive, kids have fresh minds and they know what's right--hopefully. The nineteen of us; we're all crazy by now. Look around--Polo's got an addiction, Rudo's a witch, Ealton's in exile, Payne's a supervillain--" She broke off. "But these kids are new. They can help us, once they get their brains set--I think this'll work. They've got power, right minds, and good coaches that can teach them whatever they need to know. This is how we can do it, Jamie. This is how we defeat that twentieth that's out there somewhere, waiting. This is how we fix the world." Leslie looked up, her eyes almost hopeful. "We've just got to prepare them."